Tsendze is an amazing camp!!! We spent 3 days there in June this year. It is quiet, lots of shade and the ablutions are fantastic, especially the outdoor showers. It is a bit dark getting to the ablutions at night so take along a torch.

They have solar lighting in the ablutions which does run out during the night because people don't turn off the lights. The kitchen area is also great with several 2 plate gas stoves. There is also a large gas freezer.

You are allocated a campsite (they are numbered) but you can request another at Mopani if there's one open that you want.

The really nice thing about Tsendze is that it is quiet, rustic small and intimate. The attendant is really great and keeps the camp very clean and neat.

Great camp. We had site four which to me was one of the better shaded sites. Somebody mentioned that site six was the best. I suppose that each to his own. Although I must say that the Mopani trees that are the "shade trees" were leafless at this point (late October). We had a moderate sized Appleleaf which was great for us. From just south of Tsetse all the way to Baobab Hill was extremely dry. Not at all like the pics shown earlier in June on this thread.

Anyway the camp does have some electricity - the ablutions have lights (but they are switched off) and camp kitchen has lights (these are also switched off). So the camp is dark, quiet and very peaceful. No squirrels or monkeys that steal your stuff.

There is an Ellie which lives right at the gate or in the immediate vicinity.We heard a pride of lions feeding between Mooiplaas Waterhole and Nshawu No3. at four in the morning. Later we saw half of the pride: 5 females at Mooiplaas Waterhole.

Latest Lifers: Brown-Backed Honeybird; Violet-Eared Waxbill; Green-Winged Pytilia; and heard often but never seen - Yellow-Fronted Tinkerbird (±2m away in the open)

If I remember correctly one can see Mooiplaas picnic spot from 21-24 , the better ones on the fence are 25 - 27 (8?) , with 26 being the better , in my opinion .

KNP is sacred.I am opposed to the modernisation of Kruger and from the depths of my soul long for the Kruger of yesteryear! 1000+km on foot in KNP incl 56 wild trails.200+ nights in the wildernessndloti-indigenous name for serval.

Hi G,The campsites are numbered and you need to book your site or they will allocate one for you. You need to phone Mopani camp and book the site you want. Some of the sites don't have much shade but we had a drive through there last week and these sites looked the best in our opinion. 3,4,12, and 26. Sites 3,4 and 26 are all single sites with no immediate neighbours and is next to the fence. If none of these are available you can also look at sites 13,16,18,19,20 and 25.

No 6 is a great site on the fence with lots of shade - important in the summer. Just be warned that no 5 has almost no shade. It is also on the fence and right next to no 6 - on one clearing.When we camped on no 6 in January 2007 it was really hot - 47 degrees one day under the caravan awning - and people occupying no 5 nearly camped on top of our caravan just to have some shade! 6 and 7 would be a better option - although 7 is not on the fence.Maybe you should go for 26 and 27 - seems like the overall favourites!

Sites 1 -5 are more or less on the eastern fence , 20 - 28 on western fence .

KNP is sacred.I am opposed to the modernisation of Kruger and from the depths of my soul long for the Kruger of yesteryear! 1000+km on foot in KNP incl 56 wild trails.200+ nights in the wildernessndloti-indigenous name for serval.

We camped on 28 - which is pretty open to 27 making a really big camping area if you looking for two (or 29 - will need to check the map at home to confirm) and is right on the western fence - and has a lovely huge tree on it.

Just left Tsendze - I started on 27, but moved to 6 as there was more space and shade for the caravan. I have taken photos of all sites and will post them in due course..... Some sites are really not caravan friendly!

One 'problem' was that an overland group (Intrepid) were there the first night and very noisy. Fortunately I was far enough away that it was not too bad for me. Next morning I talked to another camper and advised him to report the incident to Mopani manager. He did so - and the duty manager immediately came down, spoke to the tour guide, and came to each site to apologise for the noise. She said they take things like that seriously and if we had called the night before she would have come then! She would also be writing to the firm concerned. So well done to Mopani duty manager

Smiling is contagious. Start an epidemic today!

Have you read the entrance permit? Do you KNOW the Conditions of Entry?

This is a pic of the "best" site at Tsendze where we always stay No 27...where you share (Far away) with Site 28. Site 26 is also VERY good next door and on its own. 28,27 and 26 are far from the noisy tar road, are against the fence near the Tzendze river with its passing traffic at night..not to mention the resident Side Striped jackal and far from noisy revelers, the entrance gate with all the in and out traffic and close to Mooiplaas Picnic spot where we always walk through the bush in the evenings for our sun downers long after the Letaba/Mopani mob have left...sublime

We stayed at No 13 in July. This site has lots of shade. No 3 is a big site and isolated from the other sites, next to the fence. Fair shade in the winter not sure about winter. No 3 is a very popular site and you might fight to get it.

Tsendze is the dream camp. What I love about the place is the way the stands are laid out, most of them have their own little entrance road and there you end up on a very clean, big stand, solitary yours, encircled with bush. At night you see the other campers' flickering fires through the bush and their headlamps bobbing around. A soft drone of voices from other sites drift through the air. But it is very quiet, you hear the smallest rustling of grass...etc.The ablutions are unbelievably clean, as well as the communal kitchens. The caretakers, Rogers and Elinah, are the superb "host and hostess." A high thumbs up for them.The area itself has given us a fair amount of Big5 sightings, and a load of other animals. The vegetation is also awesome. One minute you feel you're driving through an apple orchard, the next wide open plains, then alluvial plains, a bit of forest...I could go on forever. Tsendze is the Brigadoon of campsites.I must mention the one evening when we went for a stroll around camp, coffee mugs in hand. Along the road in the dusk the people greeted, we had a few short chats, came across a couple of kids riding their bikes, campfires were everywhere, the smell of meat roasting was permeating the air. When we reached our campsite I said to SO: "If ever I saw the most perfect "neighbourhood", it was just now."

Ja Ndloti we always book #26 when we are on our own but when we are with friends we always book #27 and #28 as they are in the same clearing...These sites also are near the gate into the staff house which in turn has a gate into Mooiplaas Picnic spot. SO hates having a fence around camps so he loves to light the braai after all the Letaba and Mopani people have left the picnic site and then grabs a beer and goes and chills looking out over the Tsendze river without a fence in front of him as he watches the day say goodbye all alone...its his best and he drifts back to our site as the last car arrives in Tsendze in the dark. I went with once but wasn't happy as we had to tip toe past a feeding ellie to get back that had arrived in the car park behind our backs so I normally am "busy" at that time having a shower under the stars...(a Tsendze Specialty) or making a salad...don't worry he is always back just at official gate closing to meet Roger on his nightly rounds.. He loves this camp and I love it as SO unwinds totally at this rustic camp....naturally we are there again this August in true Kruger lion country